


Martin’s luck

by Winxhelina



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, F/M, Fairies, Mentions of Suicide, mentions of Cinderella
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 23:44:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14436735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winxhelina/pseuds/Winxhelina
Summary: When Martin is very young he is faced with a dark and depressing truth, the knowledge that man cannot become an airplane. On the same day he comes to know another lesser known truth, there are fairies out there and a certain fairy princess has taken a liking to him.This is a story born out of my desire to give some sort of explanation as to why Martin seems to be so very unlucky.





	Martin’s luck

Martin’s face was buried deep into the soft fluffy pillow, so that it very nearly drowned out his sobs. He had been crying for ages now. His parents had even stopped arguing about whether or not him crying could have been avoided, a while ago, but Martin still had tears to spare.

There was knock on the window, but Martin didn’t react to it, his mum had come in a while ago, trying to soothe him and he had not budged, so he was not going to move for this either. Except there was another knock on the window and Martin raised his tear-streaked face to glare angrily at whoever was bothering his first childhood life-crisis.

Martin’s little jaw dropped open and he quickly ran over to the window. There was a tiny woman, standing on the windowsill outside, bare-footed and wearing a long light blue sparkly dress and a crown and the most amazing thing was that she had wings!

“Mum!” Martin cried and the fairy, seeming frightened, shook her little head and hid herself from the view by the time Wendy appeared.

“What is it, honey? Are you feeling better?” she asked, stroking the young boy’s hair: "I know you feel sad, but you can’t be a –“

“No, mum! I saw a fairy!”

“A what?”

“Mum, are you Wendy? _The_ Wendy? The one from Peter Pan?!”

Wendy laughed: “What are you talking about now?”

“I saw a fairy! You know a tiny creature with wings! Like Tinker Bell! I think it was Tinker Bell, except that she was dark haired and had a crown…”

“Martin, darling, you can’t be thinking of wanting to be a fairy now do you? Because I think – “

“No, mum! Fairies are girls.”

Wendy shrugged: ”Well, maybe there are male ones. Where is this fairy of yours then?”

“She flew away when I called you…” Martin said disappointedly.

“Oh, well, maybe you shouldn’t have called me then. Maybe fairies don’t want to be seen by adults.”

Martin nodded quietly: “Think she’ll come back?”

Wendy smiled: “Maybe if you’re very quiet…”

Martin nodded and went to wait by the window, eager, but quiet. Wendy smiled and shook her head before leaving, glad that something had manage to bring his son’s attention away from the fact that he couldn’t be a plane when he grew up.

Martin opened the window and looked outside: “Little Fairy! Do come back…” the small boy pleaded quietly. Martin waited and waited, but the fairy didn’t come. Eventually he sat back on his bed, not quite crying again, but still looking rather miserable and that’s when the fairy flew in from the open window and came face to face with Martin, before casually sitting on the bed with him: “Don’t be sad, little human…”

Martin watched the fairy curiously, no longer sad at all: “I’m hardly little compared to you. Are you Tinker Bell?”

“No, who’s Tinker Bell? And I am only small when I want to be.”

“A fairy from Peter Pan.”

The fairy frowned: “Where is Peter Pan?”

“It’s a book. And a film. And I think a play. But I haven’t seen the play. What do you mean you’re only small when you want to be?”

“Why did you think I was a fairy from a book? I’m no Tinker Bell. I’m Theresa. And I mean,” she straightened her back and snapped her fingers and in a moment there was a girl sitting on Martin’s bedside, one with large wings, yes, but by no means smaller than Martin, older in fact, not quite an adult, but still, an older girl, stunningly gorgeous, thick dark curls falling to her shoulders and a thin translucent sparkling pink dress fabric covering her body. Martin carefully reaching out to touch her pretty hair: “Wow… you’re so pretty,” he breathed.

Theresa smiled: “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“You’ve got a tiara,” Martin pointed out.

Theresa nodded: “Yes. I’m the Crown Princess of the Northern Isles of Fairyfolk.”

Martin blushed and pulled his hand away: “I’m – what are you doing here?”

“I just – saw you. Well, I’ve been watching you for a while and you were crying about the plane thing and I just wanted to – make sure you were okay. I wanted to do something for you, but there was nothing I could do right now to make you happy, so all I could do was talk to you. I thought maybe that would help.”

“Why were you watching me? Are you my fairy Godmother?”

Theresa looked confused and bewildered:” What? No! I’m nowhere near old enough to be your mother! Fairies… well, fairies are good luck you see. Or rather, well,” Theresa settled herself better on the bed and looked as if she was about to explain something complicated: “Each person, gets a certain amount of luck... powder I suppose, it’s made out of fine particles of magic… it makes wishes come true…”

“So pixie dust?” Martin offered helpfully.

Theresa shrugged: “Dust hardly seems the appropriate word for something so powerful. So the thing is - you use that luck in your lifetime and wonderful things happen to you that would never normally happen, but if you wish hard enough, they can. Fairies are the ones who have the capability to use that luck powder and make your dreams come true.”

“So – can it make it so that if I grow up I’ll become a plane?”

Theresa shook her head: “It’s not that kind of magic. I can’t change you into anything. Luck doesn’t work like that. It has to be something that’s technically possible, just very very unlikely.”

“But you’re a fairy!” Martin argued.

“So?”

“You’re not exactly possible either. Don’t you have a spell? To turn me into a plane?”

Theresa frowned: “Why would you want to be a plane anyways? Planes are giant metal tubes. They aren’t even alive…”

That was a grave mistake on Theresa’s part or perhaps, depending how you looked at it, a great fortune, as enthusiastic young Martin set out to explain in great detail why he loved planes so much. He showed Theresa all of his model planes as he ranted. Most of his arguments weren’t very well built, but he was only a child.

“But planes are – not alive,” Theresa countered: ”If you were a plane you wouldn’t be alive either.”

“Well I would be one that is,” Martin countered.

Theresa raised an eyebrow, unsure what to do with that statement.

“It would just be amazing… to fly!”

Theresa coughed pointedly.

“What?”

“I’m a fairy.”

“Yes I know that.”

“So – I can fly..”

“Oh. Yes. But I can’t be a fairy.”

“No less than you can be a plane. And fairies have feelings and friends and families and – well – we _are_ alive.”

“Yes, but, you’re like - a butterfly. You don’t actually fly the way a plane does!”

“I am by no means like a butterfly!” Theresa sneered, looking very much offended and making Martin turn paler with fear as she turned redder, either from embarrassment or fury.

“Yes! I mean – I didn’t – being like a butterfly isn’t a bad thing…”

Theresa looked a bit sceptical:” Just not as good as being a plane.”

Martin blushed: “Well, yes. For me… personally! My sister would love to be a fairy! You should go to her! She’ll love you! She likes fairies and tiaras and princesses! Loads more than I do!”

Theresa looked hurt: “You don’t… like me?”

“Oh! No! I do! You’re very nice! I was just saying that if you wanted someone who wanted to be a fairy…”

“No, besides we’re not supposed to show ourselves to humans at all,” Theresa admitted, looking down at her feet.

“Oh, then – why did you show yourself to me?”

Theresa shrugged: “Like I said, fairies can bring humans good luck. I saw you crying and you looked so sad and I wanted to cheer you up, but there was nothing I could do with my magic. No matter how much luck you have you can’t be an aeroplane,” she explained, noticing how Martin’s buttom lip started to tremble again when she mentioned that: “So… I wanted to try to lift your sprits!” she explained quickly.

Martin nodded: “I just wanted to fly.”

“Oh! We can do that!” Theresa said brightly.

“We can?” Martin asked hesitantly, but Theresa was already opening the window wider and climbing out, looking around to make sure no one was there to see. Martin followed, albeit unsurely. When Theresa took his hands to gently lift them off the ground the little boy let out a terrified squeal and clung to the fairy: “Put me down!”

“But I thought you wanted – “

“Not like this! It’s scary!” Martin protested.

“But we’re not even that high. An aeroplane – “

“It’s different with an airplane! Airplanes are giant and made out of metal and have chairs and made to be carried people around!”

Theresa sighed and landed: “You do realize nature made me?”

“To carry you, not me,”

Theresa sighed once more and looked away: “Right… Well, I guess I should go.”

Martin was young and a little awkward, but he could understand when he had hurt someone and thanked Theresa for her efforts and told her she had in fact cheered her up and asked if they will see each other again. It only took Theresa a moment to think about it: “Yes. Yes, we can see each other again.”

Since then fairies followed Martin’s list of favourites after planes, one fairy in particular, but he was careful never to speak of her. He was sure his parents wouldn’t believe him anyways, but telling would have felt like betraying Theresa’s trust, especially after she had broken the rules of her people and revealed herself to Martin. Martin had a feeling that Theresa’s parents didn’t exactly approve of her seeing him, but they didn’t speak of that and she never brought it up or complained.

Instead they talked about flying and aviation. Martin found that Theresa’s first hand experience as a flyer was much more fascinating than he had originally thought. Theresa found that Martin’s endless fascination with flying gave them something in common, that she didn’t think she could have in common with any other human. Martin was special. True, to Theresa it sometimes felt like she was spending hours and hours telling someone how walking or breathing worked and how she did it, so natural was the act of flight to a fairy, but she didn’t mind and when Martin looked at her with his eyes sparkling it was all worth it. It blossomed a sort of warm fussy feeling in her heart, like nothing else did.

It wasn’t long after their first meeting that Martin found a new goal in his life: “Theresa, Theresa! I figured out what I’m going to be when I grow up!”

Theresa beamed: “Yes? Is it something possible? Or are you aiming to be a sunflower?” she teased.

“A pilot!”

“Oh! A pilot’s good! That’s as close to a fairy as a human can be!” Theresa pointed out, approvingly. 

“Do you think it’s possible then? For me to be a pilot?”

“Yeah, sure, there are loads of pilots! I’m sure you can do it!”

Martin grinned: “That’s what my parents said too! So – if it’s possible – can we use your good luck spells to make it happen?!” he asked excitedly.

“Well, you’re too young now, but when you’re older. When you have exams and stuff. We can make sure you’ll have good luck on those,” Theresa encouraged.

“Oh! I’ve already started studying!”

The fairy laughed: “Already?! Don’t you think it’s a bit early?”

Martin clearly didn’t, he went on the whole evening about all kinds of things pilots had to know and Theresa didn’t mind. She was glad to see Martin happy again. Glad to see her friend going after some goal that wasn’t impossible for him to achieve. Of course, sometimes, very rarely, there were those humans who were destined to do something with their lives and no matter what they wanted or how they tried their life would always only lead them to that goal, but Theresa was sure, that if Martin had a destiny at all, it would be to fly the skies.

Plus Theresa did find aviation more and more interesting as the time went by. It was remarkable what a complex machine was required for humans to do something so incredibly simple for fairies and birds alike. Theresa had to admit she was a little jealous of the machines, Martin never seemed quite as taken with her flying skills as he was with those of planes. Martin could tell she was jealous and would tease her about it endlessly just as Theresa would tease him about a number of things. Their friendship grew warm and comfortable, so much so that eventually they were found out by Martin’s parents.

It was a warm Sunday afternoon in July and Theresa was sitting on Martin’s bedroom floor, in her much larger human-like form and they were putting together a model airplane. The plan was to see if Theresa would fit in it in her smaller form. It was then that Martin’s mother knocked on the door and Thank God she did. Theresa was about to jump up and leave, but Martin grasped her wrist: ”Stay. She will think I’m talking to myself again like a madman!” he hissed and threw a blanket over Theresa’s petite frame to cover her wings. Theresa winced slightly, uncomfortable and tried to fold her wings under the damn thing while Wendy stepped in.

“I’m just headed to Te- Oh. Hello. I – Who are you?”

Theresa blushed: “I’m a friend of Martin’s. I’m sorry I didn’t come down to introduce myself.”

“A friend of – what - from school? How - When – how did you come in then?”

“From the back door from the kitchen!” Martin provided: “I was going to ask you, but you were on the phone. Theresa’s not from my school she’s um – “

“I just live near by,” Theresa tried to fill in: “We met in a – “

“Air Museum! In Bristol! The one I went to the other day and I was going to tell you I made a friend except you made this huge fuss – “

“Of course I made a huge fuss! You’re 9 years old and you went to Bristol without telling anyone!”

“Yes, well, anyway, that’s where I met Theresa and we’ve been friends ever since, but I was afraid to tell you, you see, because she is from Bristol.”

Theresa burst out laughing: “Bristol’s not like a terrible place or anything! I told you we wouldn’t have to keep it a secret!”

“Of course you shouldn’t have, but you need to tell me if you have guests! It’s school night too! Have you done your homework? Do Theresa’s parents know she’s here?”

Theresa lied and said that they did and Martin and she promised Wendy that from now on Theresa would politely ask if she wanted to come over. And so she did. Most of the time. Except when it was late and she fancied a little trip in through Martin’s window. Theresa also attended a few family dinners, where she was constantly forced to hide her wings under blankets, capes and wide coats, which made everything rather uncomfortable.

Still, it meant that Martin no longer had to keep Theresa a secret. Just who she was. He no longer had to pretend he lacked a best friend and his parents no longer worried that he was a lonely child.

It seemed to make everyone happy. Theresa was fascinated by humans, their food and ways, although she tried to act casual about it and mostly managed to act human.

When Martin was 15 Theresa found she had something other than planes to be jealous of. Martin had been a member of the air cadets ever since he could join at 12 and he was terribly fond of it. However, recently, he seemed very fond of a girl named Marion. Marion was older than Martin, just a little, a pretty girl with dark straight hair, bright eyes and an asymmetrical fringe. Martin had told Theresa none of this, instead she witnessed it one day when she came to visit Martin. Wendy had seemed oddly surprised to see her when she knocked on the front door as she usually did, during reasonable hours, but let her go upstairs. Theresa knocked on the door and slid it open the next moment. Her heart froze at the sight of a girl there, practically in Martin’s lap, Martin’s lips and his red adorable handsome face just inches away from her lips.

“Oh, hi Theresa!” Martin had greeted her cheerfully.

Marion turned to look at the girl who had interrupted them, clearly annoyed: “Martin, who is she?”

“I’m – Theresa…” said Theresa, sounding suddenly very sad and just a bit lost: “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Oh no, it’s fine! This is Marion. Marion, this is my best friend Theresa,” Theresa had never minded being called Martin’s best friend, usually it was a compliment, but now, suddenly, in this context, it felt like the harshest insult anyone could throw at her and she wasn’t sure why. It’s not like she was Martin’s girlfriend. They had never kissed, never even held hands. There was a lump at the back of her throat and she swallowed, but it was still there: “I’m sorry. I’m clearly interrupting. I’ll be back later,” she breathed. She stood there for a moment, frozen as Martin opened his mouth to object and Marion turned away from her and pressed her lips to Martin’s and then Theresa ran back downstairs so fast that it was almost like flying, her wings unfolded themselves and her cape fell on the staircase, but she didn’t care. She was out of the room so fast that Wendy could hardly register her leaving, let alone her having wings.

Theresa barely saw Martin when he was dating Marion. She was quiet and solemn when he spoke of her, almost as much as he spoke of planes, these days, but Martin was either too clueless or too non-confrontational to bring the matter up. She wasn’t straight up mean about it, because she understood Martin liked her and all Theresa had ever wanted was for Martin to be happy, but she saw him less and less. She would try not to see him at all, but that hurt too much and so she saw him from time to time, telling herself that little by little she could fall out of love with him and one day it wouldn’t hurt anymore.

But that day never came, because one day when Theresa came over Martin was buried under his blankets, crying in much the same way he had when Theresa first met him.

When Theresa asked what had happened Martin explained that Marion had left Martin over his unhealthy obsession with aviation. Theresa was thrilled for about five seconds, before she saw how hurt the boy looked and wrapped her arms around him: “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, it will be okay.”

“I really liked her, you know. Really, really. I thought – well, you’ll say it’s silly, of course, mum says I’m being silly, I’m only 15,”

“You’re not silly, Martin,”

“Well I thought maybe she could be someone I marry. You know. Because I have to marry someone and I really did like her. More than any other human.”

Theresa smiled, just a little. It was a small comfort. Still, she had been constantly wondering. Why her? Why this meaningless little human when Martin could have the most powerful fairy royalty in the whole region? Well, she supposed there was her answer. She wasn’t human.

“I’m sure you’ll find someone. I’m s-sure there is someone out there for you, meant just for you.”

“Is that a thing? An actual magical thing or are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

Theresa smiled: “It is a thing. Fate is a powerful goddess like creature. Far more so than any other fairy. The course of human lives are her craftsmanship; she defines who you’ll end up with and what you will become. Of course, many of those things are up for debate, many you decide for yourself, many you can change, many can be altered with a magical fairy  and the power of luck, but some are quite certain.”

Martin listened, in awe, feeling much like a little boy:”So… if you wanted you could find out my destiny?”

“Would you want to know your destiny?” Theresa asked.

“Not all of it. Just – whether or not I’ll end up happily with someone or not.”

Theresa nodded: “Well… it’s not really allowed, but what’s also not allowed is hanging around a human boy, so I can have a look, but not all things in Fate’s Book of Lives are certain.”

Martin nodded: “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“I don’t want you to be sad. I’ll have a look for you,” she promised, smiling at Martin and then, to Theresa, something magical happened, Martin reached out and brushed ran his hand through her hair and Theresa’s heart sang as he said, in the softest of tones: “Thank you.”

****

Fate was a terrifying Goddess, much taller than any human, she towered alone in her Realm of Possibilities where only fairies as powerful as those in the royal families could enter.

She looked down at Theresa, a colourful speck of light and pixie dust, compared to her might and spoke, polite, yet regal: “How may I help you, Your Highness?”

“I am here to enquire about the human named Martin Crieff.”

Fate sighed, she was feared and her appearances stroke terror into the heart of lesser fairies and surely would have into the hearts of humans, had they met her, but really, as far her personality went, she wasn’t bad. Theresa knew all of that, but still felt nervous.

“You do know that everyone important knows of your affair with this human? You’re really setting yourself up for disappointment. He himself is nothing important, his daughter will be through.”

“His daughter? So he will be married?” Theresa asked curiously.

Fate sighed:”Yes, fine, let’s see, Martin Crieff, an electrician, marries Marion Taylor at the age of – “

“Electrician?”

“Yes.”

“Not a pilot?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. His dream of becoming a pilot never becomes true, so eventually he gives into his family’s wishes, the life that follows for him is filled with unhappiness, but his suicide is what inspires her daughter Bell to write –“

“His suicide?” Theresa interrupted.

“Yes,” Fate said calmly.

“He is going to take his own life?”

“Yes.”

“Why? No!”

“Yes. I told you were setting yourself up for a disappointment.”

“That is a massive understatement!” Theresa snapped, her vision was already blurring, but she took a deep breath and put on her well-practised mask: “Right…well, thank you. “

“Bell Crieff is an important literary character. Her novel will bring forth many important changes, therefore it is equally vital that her father’s death inspires her.”

Theresa stopped listening after that. No literary work of fiction would ever be more important than Martin’s life. Although, she understood the warning and hidden meaning in Fate’s words. No small amount of luck would ensure a happier ending for Martin if his death was to be a catalyst to the inspiration of a historical figure.

Theresa had never dashed through the air with such speeds, she flew so fast towards Martin’s house that she didn’t notice the window was closed and crashed into it. Thankfully, Martin happened to be studying in his room and the loud bang caught his attention. He rushed to the window and was met with a familiar fairy princess, hovering uneasily in the air. Martin opened the window: “Theresa! Are you – are you okay?”

“Yes! Yes! I just hit my head…”

“Did you not see the window?” Martin laughed.

“I was in a hurry,” the princess grumbled, thankful to see that Martin helped her inside where she could take her bigger form and sit on the bed and catch her breath.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“Martin I...” suddenly Theresa found that she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Surely, she wasn’t allowed to tell Martin his destined future, but even if it were allowed – should she? What if it made things worse? Martin was a fragile human, What if it frightened him? Sent him into despair? What good would that do? What if nothing could be done?

While Theresa thought this over, Martin grew confused: “Theresa?”

“Yes.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I… well I had a look at the book. Or – well I – I didn’t – I asked Fate to tell me your, well, fate…” as Theresa met Martin’s gaze, the boy before him looked pale and frightened and Theresa wondered if she should have said nothing at all: “But I won’t tell you if you don’t want to.”

“No, n-no I do,” Martin said, clearly nervous, but trying to sound certain: “If you came here in such a haste you must have found out something, something you didn’t expect and if you don’t tell me I’ll spend the rest of my life thinking about it. So you better tell me now. Will I die alone or something? What is it?”

Theresa took a deep breath, deciding to focus on the positive: ”No, no you won’t. In fact – good news – you’ll end up marrying Marion! And the two of you will have a wonderful little baby girl!” Theresa announced, forcing cheerfulness in her voice.

She must not have been doing a very good job, because Martin didn’t look very happy hearing that, in fact, for all intents and purposes, Theresa thought he looked rather disappointed: “Right… that’s – that’s good.”

“What is it, Martin?” Theresa practically laughed: “Five days ago you were telling me how you really like her and you thought you might get married someday. “

“Yes. I do! I did! I do like her and you know… she’s nice and all and I do think that…”

“But?” Theresa pressed.

“But nothing! That’s good. That’s great news. Thanks for checking for me!” Martin squeaked, quite obviously lying.

Theresa swung her legs over the edge of Martin’s bed then: “You don’t think you’ll be happy with her?”

“No, no I’m sure I will be, you know, reasonably happy,”

Theresa snorted: “I still feel like there’s a but coming.”

“Well, it’s stupid really…”

Theresa held her breath, expecting the question about Martin becoming a pilot, because surely, if she still knew anything about the man, that would be more important to him than his love life: “Tell me anyways.”

“Just that – well, she’s not you, is it? No one is like you. No human at least, but I suspect no fairy either… And I didn’t think… I never thought – of course I never expected to be with a crown princess of fairyfolk, but maybe I hoped just a little bit…”

Theresa’s wings were suddenly fluttering rapidly, much the same way her heart was beating in her chest. She felt her cheeks heat and a grin form on her face: “Martin! Yes! I would love to!”

“Would you? But if I am meant to be with her…”

“Oh please, everything can be altered with enough force of will. Well, almost anything and besides I am a magical being of good luck. Fairies are free in their will and their abilities to shape their destinies, more so than humans are and while I am still bound by some of the rules of my world I have proven that I have no problem breaking them!” she beamed, full of confidence and high spirits, her wings still fluttering nervously, producing so much golden pixie dust that Martin’s sheets, became rapidly covered in glitter.

Then Martin smiled and leaned in and kissed her lightly and Theresa’s nervousness melted away. She kissed Martin with all the fervour and passion she could muster, which was clearly much more than Martin had expected. Their kisses were messy, but both of them were filled with joy and love, they laughed and giggled and Theresa squirmed happily under Martin’s touches.

Fairies and their bodies were not very different from humans, but small differences mattered and Theresa gave Martin all the time he needed to figure it out. The rest of Martin’s fate still haunted her, but she told herself that if Martin and her managed to stick together, everything would change. He would become a pilot and even if he didn’t Theresa would do everything in her power to make him happy, to be enough. She was a fairy princess for crying out loud. She could handle making the man she loved happy. Still, she worried one day Martin would ask about the rest of his destiny and sure enough it happened when she least expected it.

Martin and Theresa were lying in bed in the small flat Martin had rented. It was an awful small place that was freezing when it was cold out and like a sauna when it was sunny out. Martin was terribly embarrassed by it. Theresa couldn’t care less about the way the place looked. It was private and lovely and they could kiss and cuddle and have sex all day long without the fear of someone dropping in. Not that they usually had sex all day long. Martin had a part time job and Theresa was still a princess and couldn’t be gone for ages. Even if her human lover was a completely public secret by this point.

“Do you think we’ll last?” Martin asked suddenly.

Theresa sighed. Sometimes Martin’s insecurity was cute, but at times it also grew incredibly frustrating and she had been hoping they were past these post-sex conversations where Theresa had to assure Martin that the lack of his sexual experiences would not result on her walking out immediately. Truth to be told. Theresa was just as inexperienced, but she had more confidence. Maybe because she was a royalty: “Martin, really, it was excellent, don’t ruin it.”

“I’m sorry,” Martin said and fell quiet, but it was clear he was still thinking about it.

Theresa sighed again: “I don’t care about the flat. In fact I really like it. Get rid of this notion that you need to be something better or richer just because I’m royalty.”

“It’s not that.”

“What that?”

“Well, once you said that I would marry Marion. How certain was that? Can you be sure that it’s not… inevitable?”

Theresa paused and thought about it: “Do you still love her? Do you miss her? Do you want to be with her?”

“No,” Martin knew the answer, there was no doubt there: “Not sure I ever loved her… thinking back it’s kind of absurd to think I thought we would get married, but – you know – I still fear that… that maybe it’s something I can’t change. That even if I don’t really want to marry her I still will end up having to. Maybe if you’re not around anymore…”

“I’ll be around Martin,” Theresa said firmly, she sat up for a moment and then turned to face him, her inhumanly bright blue eyes staring down to his which were incredibly bright as well: “I’m a fairy. I have free will and I know I would never willingly give you up.”

Martin seemed stunned by this confession, but thankfully not frightened. He touched her face, tracing the lines of her cheekbones with his fingertips and Theresa’s wings fluttered, leaving golden glitter all over Martin’s body. It was fine. The bed and everything around them was already covered with it. Theresa hid her face into Martin’s shoulder and suddenly something inside her broke and she started to weep hysterically.

“Hey,” Martin began softly: “What’s this now? Usually I’m the one crying after sex,” he joked. He hadn’t cried quite that bad, usually he just became a little misty eyes, and really who could blame him? It still blew his mind away that he was allowed to be with a stunning fairy princess. Theresa however, was never like that afterwards : “What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of what? You just said you had free will.”

“I do, but Marion, if you – when you were to marry her. You, you were also meant to kill yourself.”

Martin had gently been caressing Theresa’s back to calm her, but now his hand suddenly stilled and all was eerie quiet: “What?”

“Your unhappy marriage with her would drove you to suicide…”

“Then… Oh God… Oh God…”

Theresa pulled back to watch Martin’s face, now as pale as the sheet beneath him: “Oh My God, why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to. Besides you have me now. If I’m enough, you don’t have to – you wouldn’t… maybe do that?” she was stroking his cheek trying to calm him, but was trembling herself as well terribly.

“How could you ever not be enough?” Martin asked quietly, but it was clear he was still shaken by this.

Theresa didn’t answer. She knew exactly how she wasn’t enough. It had been clear since the day they first met. She wasn’t an airplane. But she couldn’t say that, so she just chewed on her lip quietly.

“God, I… Why didn’t you tell me? If she made me that miserable I would have married anyone else to avoid that!”

“I… I didn’t have the chance to yet,” Theresa lied and to her horror Martin could see through her lie instantly.

“No, you weren’t going to tell me. I remember, you were trying to make it sound like a good thing. You – did you want me to die?”

“No!” Theresa shrieked so loud she was sure the neighbors heard her: “I would have – I will always, do anything I can to make sure you’re happy!”

“Just not tell me if I might marry a woman who makes me so miserable that I might kill myself,” Martin said skeptically, watching Theresa.

Theresa didn’t reply. She sat on the bed, uncharacteristically quiet, her big blue eyes staring at Martin while she held a hand over her mouth.

“What? What is it you’re not telling me?”

“It’s not her fault you'd be miserable,” Theresa finally admitted: “Fate said it would be your job as an electrician.”

Martin stared at her, dumbfounded for a moment as if he couldn’t quite put the two and two together. Theresa saw the moment the penny dropped: “Electrician…”

She nodded carefully.

Martin fell back on the sheets: “I’m not going to be a pilot… You - all this time you knew I wasn’t ever going to be one and you let me rant on about aviation like a fool…”

“Martin…” Theresa began softly, but Martin sat up sharply and looked straight at Theresa:”All this time you said nothing!”

“I didn’t want to scare you!” Theresa argued.

“But then… all of this was a waste of time…”

Theresa shook her head: “Fairies and humans have free will. Fairies more than humans, but now that we know your faith we can change it. We can at least try. We can use luck powder to try and manipulate your fate and change it.”

“Do you think we can?”

“It is possible. People can change their fate. They do it unconsciously all the time. It isn’t - set in stone, so to say.”

“Not ever?”

Theresa bit her lip: “If something is – important or – that’s not right – if something has greater impact on things, it’s more certain.”

“Well, I don’t think me being an electrician would significantly impact anything.”

“Yeah...” Theresa agreed, but Martin caught her hesitance: “Is there something else you’re not telling me?”

Theresa was silent for a moment: “It might be better if you don’t know.”

“No,” Martin said and Theresa had never heard him that determined: “No, it’s not.”

“With Marion… you would have a child, a daughter, who would become a famous writer…”

“Oh…” Martin breathed: “A daughter.”

Theresa sat on the bed, holding her breath. Martin seemed so awestruck and Theresa wondered if he was re-evaluating his possible relationship with Marion.  She thought she had told him about her, but that had been so long ago, Maybe Martin had forgotten. Would he want a daughter? Even knowing her success as a writer would be dependent on his death? Or at least, that if he died, his daughter would be likely to be famous. This was why Theresa hadn’t wanted to tell Martin. He didn’t want to put thoughts like that into his head.

“And if we don’t… she won’t be born?”

“Well, no, but you could possibly have a baby with every woman your age. Or possibly not.”

“But she – she is meant to be born…”

Theresa shrugged: “It’s a possibility. It was a possibility. At the time when I asked Fate what your fate was, it was that. It was based on all of your knowledge and decisions at the time. It could have already changed when I told you were meant to be with her. Many things could have changed it already. It’s – fate isn’t determined, we shape our own futures. Fate exists, but it is not certain, nor does it completely run our lives.”

Martin nodded and thought about it: “You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Martin fell back on the bed and fell quiet again. Theresa watched him for a while: “Do you want to go to her?”

“No. I don’t imagine being happy with her anymore,” Martin said quietly: “Not what I was thinking.”

Theresa smiled and relaxed: “What are you thinking about?”

“Well – can we have children?”

Theresa practically fell off the bed and Martin, seeing her reaction quickly amended: “I don’t mean right now!”

Theresa was blushing madly:”Y-Yes, yes I know – I don’t actually know. Maybe. I guess we’ll find out when we – if we ever try.”

The topic of children was from that point on, left to the future. However the topic of Martin’s fate and luck came up more and more as he started to study to become a pilot. Because really, his studies weren’t very successful. Martin had recently graduated from high school and immanently after he had applied to each and every flight school he could find within somewhat reasonable distance, he even applied abroad, perfectly willing to move anywhere and everywhere if he could only fly.

“How would you feel about me going to study in Vilnus?”

Theresa laughed: ”Worried about the state of your Lithuanian?”

“I’m serious!”

“So am I! Martin, there are so many wonderful and maybe less wonderful flight schools right here in England. I mean, okay, apply to France and nearby places, for sure, but I’m sure you get an offer from somewhere here. You are the most enthusiastic aviation student I have ever met!”

“And just how many have you met?”

Theresa tried not to be taken aback by his boyfriend’s snappy tone: “Okay, point taken. But you can’t apply to every single flight school in the world!”

“I’m not looking at the whole world! Just Europe!”

Theresa sighed, realizing she was fighting a loosing battle. She did worry how it might affect their relationship if Martin moved to Vilnus or God knows what other place where you could apply to via mail, but she kept her mouth shut. She wanted Martin to get his dream as bad as Martin did and she’d be damned if she ended up being the reason behind him not getting it.

Martin sighed too: “Listen, I’m sorry. I just – have to give it a try. I’ve got to give it my all. Especially if this might be me fighting against my destiny of becoming an electrician.”

Theresa buried her face in her hands and raked her fingers through her thick black locks: “This is why humans can’t know about their destinies, I guess,” she said quietly.

She covered Martin’s knee with her palm and squeezed: “You’ll be very lucky in your endeavours. I can do that much. I can make sure you’re luckier than anyone else giving in their applications and you – just be determined. With determination and hard work you can do anything. Even if you were meant to be an electrician, you can.”

So they did just that. Theresa used copious, ludicrous amounts of Martin’s luck on these applications and Martin did his best at everything he could.  
Still, everything seemed to work against them, some letters miscarried; some application deadlines passed, way before either of them thought they would. It was as if someone had changed them. Still, Theresa was confident that she as fairy princess could use Martin’s luck wisely and that Martin could woo and persuade just about anyone with his determination, willingness to work hard and incredibly vast knowledge of aviation. Which is why it was a shock and a blow to the guts when Martin didn’t get an offer. Theresa couldn’t believe it.

“Is it settled then? No amount of luck and determination in the world can make me a pilot?” Martin asked quietly.

“We haven’t done that yet! We haven’t spent all of your luck either. There’s still plenty of it left!”

“Well, why didn’t you?! This is what I want most on the world.”

“No, Martin. What do you want most in the world is to be a pilot, not to get an offer. Once you get an offer there will still be exams and…” she trailed off, suddenly thoughtful.

“What?”

“Well, this is a very bad idea, but technically we could use all of the luck you have assigned to you in your life and assign it towards the goal of you becoming a pilot in general…”

Martin perked up: “That’s not a bad idea! That’s a fantastic idea! Let’s do that!”

“No, Martin it – you don’t understand. It – It is dangerous. Every human being gets a certain amount of luck in their lives. Some of it gets spent just naturally, the way luck normally works, you get lucky, some of it humans direct with their wishes. Fairies, we are capable of manipulating luck much better than humans. Strong fairies like me can even do things like that – direct all your luck towards one goal, but that means that you won’t ever be lucky in any other aspects. Ever. And humans rely on luck a lot in their lives so someone who had no luck whatsoever in other aspects of their lives – well they would be freakishly unlucky.”

“But I could be a pilot?”

“If we spent all of your luck on that? Almost certainly.”

“And would I still have you?”

Theresa blushed: “Yes… Yes, of course. You don't need luck to have me.”

“And it wouldn’t effect you? Or the people around me?”

“How do you mean?”

“They wouldn’t be unlucky? Because of me?”

Theresa found she was very touched by Martin's consideration of other people. She smiled: “No. Luck doesn’t work like that. There is no bad luck. Just the lack of luck. You can – I mean there are instances where people use up some of their luck for others, because they wish well for others and love them, fairies can direct it, but you know, so can humans. A bit.”

“But I wouldn’t be bad luck for anyone?”

“No, just you wouldn’t have any good luck either.”

“Then it’s what I want.”

Theresa sighed: “Martin, even if there is nothing you want more than this – is it all that you want? I mean, this a dangerous thing. For example, if you get in touch with a sick person, there’s a likelihood of you getting sick, but you know, some people won’t, because they are lucky. You won’t have that so you’d be more likely to catch something and it works like that with everything.”

Martin fell quiet for a bit: “I do understand, but what if it’s the only way this will work? I’ve already worked so hard and have nothing to show for it.”

Theresa seemed to understand, but she still also seemed keen on changing Martin’s mind: “There is a story amongst fairies, an old tale. It speaks of a beautiful young maiden, whose mother had died when she was young…”

“Are you telling me a literal fairy tale?” Martin asked, smirking.

Theresa smiled: “I guess I am. Now shut up and listen. There was this girl, her mother had died when she was young and her father had remarried, but this new woman had two daughters of her own, whom she preferred over her stepdaughter and she made this girl do all the work in the house, dust and clean and they treated her poorly and teased and tormented her. Then, one day, the local prince of these lands announced that there would be a big party and all the women in the area would be welcomed there…”

Martin raised his hand in protest and stopped her: “Are you telling me the story of Cinderella? Why are you telling me the story of Cinderella?”

“The who now?”

“Cinderella. It’s a famous human fairy tale told to children.”

“Then it’s a human tale not a fairy tale, but it is in fact a fairy tale. It is the famous tragedy of the Unlucky Maiden.”

“How is she unlucky? She marries the prince?”

Theresa burst out laughing: “Only because the fairy kills herself! It’s a greatest tragedy of our time! It’s told to warn off fairies from falling in love with humans!”

“What? The love is between Cinderella and the prince!”

“I think we might be talking about a different story.”

Martin hesitated, then got up and went to the nearest bookcase and browsed there for some time, before producing a fairy tale book. He looked up the story of Cinderella and gave it to Theresa to read, waiting as she sat in silence and did just that: “It is wildly inaccurate, but it seems to be the same story. At least the beginning is very similar.”

“You mean to say that this actually happened?”

“Well, it’s more of a legend so no one is sure, but it is generally thought to have historical basis. Why is the fairy princess depicted as an old woman? And there is no mention of her tragic sacrifice?”

Martin looked confused: “Please do fill me in.”

“Okay. So, once the stepsisters had ruined… if you insist on the name, _Cinderella’s_ mother’s dress, thus making sure she had nothing to wear to the ball, she was crying bitter tears, a fairy spotted her. This fairy had been watching the human for a while and she felt really bad for the stunning girl who was treated so unfairly. She decided to help the maiden and asked her what she wanted most in the world. The girl insisted that what she most wanted was to spend one night as a princess, dancing at all ball with the prince, so that he might notice her and maybe even fall in love with her. The fairy pointed out that this was difficult to achieve and would take up a lot of magic, but the beautiful human girl insisted that it was all they ever wanted. The fairy had been watching the human for a while now, she had seen her work hard and be subjected to this abuse daily and yet she had stayed kind to those around her. The fairy had fallen hopelessly in love with the human Maiden. So she told the human of the magic of luck and how they might use it and they made sure that she would get to the ball. But you see – turning pumpkins into carriages and all that, you can’t actually do, that so instead the fairy princess gave the human her own gown, a most beautiful magical dress that shone like thousands of stars as well as her glass slippers. She gave her all of these beautiful things and they used up all her magic luck so that the prince would notice her and fall in love with her, even if it hurt the fairy that her beloved human would be with another. They borrowed the horse and carriage from their neighbours, the fairy princess used her own luck to persuade the neighbour to help them, since they had already used all of the human’s for her wish.

She went to the ball and the prince did notice her and they danced and fell in love. If such a thing is possible after only a night. However, the prince was already wed to be married, you see. All the human had wanted was to go to the ball, dance with a prince and fall in love, nothing about them getting married. The human girl and the human prince made love to one another, you know, snuck off the ball and then, in the morning and not at midnight, she left. Because she was a commoner and the prince would never be able to marry her even if he wanted to, because he was already arranged to be married. In some versions of the story she leaves the prince the glass slippers her fairy gave her as a way to remember her by, because she’s a poor girl and doesn’t have fancy things to give.

The maiden comes home from the ball back to his everyday life and for a while she is happy. But, you know, she has no luck left, so her situation stays the same. She continues to live with her awful stepsisters, they torment and torture her and she begins to realize that this one night of happiness might not have been the only thing she ever wanted. She finds herself thinking of the prince every day, madly in love with him still. In the meanwhile, the fairy princess is still watching over her, but she can no longer manipulate the maiden’s luck to work in her favour. Her heart aches for watching her beloved, yet she is incapable of doing anything about it.

Eventually the fairy princess can’t take it anymore. She uses her own magic, her own luck, to change her beloved human’s future. She uses her luck to make sure the human finds love and lives a happy life. An improbability so large it uses up all of her magic.

Soon after she does there is a uprising in the town, the king is killed and the prince flees in fear of being murdered too. He ends up seeking shelter in the maiden’s cottage. They recognize one another and together they flee even further to a faraway village at night where they live happily until the end of their days.”

Martin was quiet for a moment: “So the moral is humans are idiot feeble creatures and fairies know better?.”

Theresa shook her head: “For fairies, generally the wanted takeaway is that humans are dangerous and we shouldn’t get too closely involved with them. But both of them are idiots. The human maiden for using all of her luck on wanting to have one night at a ball with a prince and the fairy, well, I kind of think the fairy is not that bad, but she sacrifices herself for someone who doesn’t love her and won't even know of her sacrifice.”

“Sacrifices?”

“Yeah. She uses all of her luck, all of her magic to make the human happy. Fairies are largely made of magic so – she dies.”

“Wow,” Martin breathed: “That’s dark.”

“It’s better than your version of the story. The whole thing with pumpkins and magical mice is absurd, but the shoe part? I mean that isn’t even supposed to be magic, it just suggests that no one else has the same shoe-size. How is that even possible? Does she have a rare genetic disorder or something?”

Martin smiled: “But our story is different. I don’t want to go to a ball, I want a career, something I’ll have my whole life. And I would never ask you to use your own luck or anyone else’s!”

Theresa smiled and kissed Martin: “I know, but think about what it means. You’d never be lucky at all. With anything. You’d never even win a coin toss.”

“I don’t care about coin tosses! Theresa, you’ve known me since I was a boy! When have I ever have wanted anything more?!”

Theresa got up to leave: “Think about it. Two days,” she transformed herself into her tinier form and flew to the windowsill.

“Where are you going?!” Martin cried after her.

“I’m letting you think about it,” Theresa said and flew off.

**Author's Note:**

> This long chapter took me months to write and I kind of wanted it to be a one-shot. Not because of my usual delusions that this will be short, but because I didn't want to spoil too much and I wanted to publish it at a point where the title made sense. I think this is that point. 
> 
> I would have uploaded it in one go, but I honestly really wanted to hopefully hear some feedback before.


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